Saratoga, California USA – January 18, 2006 – Continuing
forward in the development of advanced game performance benchmarks,
Futuremark announced today the release and immediate availability of
3DMark06. A more comprehensive and unrestricted benchmark than previous
versions, 3DMark06 includes an array of 3D graphics, CPU and 3D feature
tests for overall performance measurement of current and future PC
gaming systems. With this broader design approach, 3DMark06 will be the
benchmark of choice for all PCs with top-of-the-line graphics hardware
and CPUs. Futuremark predicts that 3DMark06 will emerge as the most
complete 3D graphics benchmark for Windows XP, paving the way for new
benchmarks targeted at future OS environments such as Windows Vista.
New Technical Heights
Building on 3DMark05 as a foundation,
Futuremark improved the core 3D engine, adding more complex ShaderModel
2.0 tests, stunning High Dynamic Range (HDR) ShaderModel 3.0 tests, and
overall enhanced the product with substantially higher polygonal counts
expected to be found in games two years into the future. Even with the
addition of HDR/ShaderModel 3.0 tests, 3DMark06 still enables
ShaderModel 2.0 compliant graphics card owners to run most of the
benchmark and get a fully comparable 3DMark score. With these demanding
new DirectX 9 implementations, 3DMark06's four graphics tests measure
performance of the most advanced hardware while showing visually the
compelling advantages of these new shader types.
3DMark06
is the first product from Futuremark using the AGEIA(tm) PhysX software
physics library in two very complex, game-like threaded CPU tests
conceived to measure properly performances of single processor,
multi-core and multiple processor systems in next generation of games.
In addition to using real-time physics, both CPU tests also employ
multi-threaded artificial intelligence algorithms. By combining the
results of the two CPU tests and four graphics tests, 3DMark06 enables
users to get a 3DMark score which reflects the overall gaming
performance of their PC. Futuremark and their industry partners
anticipate that CPU performance promises to be increasingly important
in next generation PC games as new titles increase their use of
artificial intelligence and complex physics and their reliance on
multithreaded processing.
"The
PC industry and PC gamers alike want true apples-to-apples comparisons,
and with 3DMark06, they get it," said Tero Sarkkinen, Futuremark's
executive vice president of sales and marketing. "3DMark06 is by far
the most technologically advanced gamers' benchmark we've ever
delivered. With new CPU tests, four graphics tests and expanded feature
tests 3DMark06 will provide valuable overall performance scores. And by
updating three existing graphics tests we are able to produce taxing,
yet beautiful content, graphically revealing what these mathematically
complex shaders can provide while measuring system wide hardware
performance."
New Scores and More
The new scoring system in 3DMark06
acknowledges the use of CPU related tasks in the latest and future
games, and accordingly the CPU results affect the final 3DMark score.
To further enable media professionals, end-users, IHV's and OEM's to
compare pure graphics and CPU performance, 3DMark06 also provides three
new sub scores – SM2.0 Score, HDR/SM3.0 Score and CPU Score, all of
which are fully valid and comparable scores.
Performance results and system information can be uploaded directly
from SPMarkJava06, which uses the device's default web browser. New
users can create a free ORB account, and existing ORB users can log
onto their existing account. Once the data is loaded into the ORB, the
results can be browsed using their internet connected PC or the
device's browser. This will permit the user to compare virtually any
phone against each other and see which J2ME features are supported by
various phones.
Industry cooperation during development
Futuremark is known
industry-wide for producing well designed, unbiased and impartial
benchmarks based on next generation game workloads and 3DMark06 adheres
to those guiding principles. Developed in conjunction with BDP members
AMD, ATI, Dell, Imagination Technologies, Intel, Microsoft, NVIDIA, S3,
SIS, Velocity Micro and XGI, this latest offering from Futuremark is a
collaborative effort that reflects the projected workloads of game
content two years from today.
"For gamers and power users it's all about system and graphics
performance," said Kevin Kettler, chief technology officer and vice
president, Dell Product Group. "Among the many industry-standard tools
Dell uses to evaluate technologies in its XPS gaming PCs, 3DMark06
stands out as a critical benchmark for analyzing how next-generation
processors and 3D graphics engines can benefit customers."
"We
applaud Futuremark's continued support of Microsoft's DirectX 9.0 set
of APIs, which provide our partners and the industry with a robust and
time-tested foundation for their benchmarking tool," said Dean Lester,
General Manager of Graphics and Gaming Technologies, Microsoft
Corporation. "As DirectX 9.0 was designed to make game development on
the Windows platform more advanced and efficient, 3DMark06 provides
additional benefits for mainstream applications by providing users with
Futuremark's latest set of diagnostic tools."
Key Features
3DMark06 provides a host of standard features. All editions (basic, advanced and professional) include:
- DirectX 9 3D game performance benchmarking,
- Separate tests for graphics cards and CPUs,
- Workloads that simulate next-generation gaming requirements,
- Advanced 3D gaming engine that supports HDR rendering with SM2.0 and SM3.0 Shaders,
- Two HDR/SM3.0 game tests and two SM2.0 game tests,
- Threaded CPU performance testing based on AI and physics workloads applied to a variety of processor environments.
The advanced edition of 3DMark06 has these additional features:
- Full control over benchmark display configuration,
- 3D graphics feature tests that include Fill Rate, Pixel Shader, Vertex Shader, SM3.0 tests, and Batch Size tests,
- Professional tools, including image quality analysis and graph creation of runtime statistics,
- Importing of results from MS Excel for easier result management and report creation, and
- Access to the Pro-Online ResultBrowser,
- Playable mini-game based on CPU test, and
- Full demo.
The professional edition has these exclusive features:
- Command line functionality for test automation,
- Batch-run functionality for automated testing,
- Licensed commercial use of 3DMark06, and
- Demo Loop option.
Price and Availability
Futuremark's Basic, Advanced and Professional editions of 3DMark06 are
available now. The Basic Edition is free and can be downloaded from
Futuremark's Web site at http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmark06.
An Advanced Edition is available online for $19.95 per license, or
$29.95 plus shipping and handling for software on CD. The Professional
Edition costs $490 per license when downloaded electronically, or $500
plus shipping and handling for the software on CD.
News Source: Futuremark Press Release
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